It Starts with a John Doe
by AmyBot3000
Summary: Weeks after Gail breaks up with Holly at the Penny a John Doe forces her to visit the lab... The only problem is the sound of gunfire that starts when she gets there.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : Yeah, I didn't like how suddenly Holly returned, then I had an idea and I went with it... There'll be second chapter from Holly's POV in the next couple of weeks.

(Also, side note, WTF happened with the UK election today!? I woke up expecting a hung parliament and instead there was a majority Tory vote AND three party leaders quit dsfjksdf)

* * *

John Doe had started ruining her day the second she found him or more specifically the second she tripped over his dead body. Gail knows she can't _really_ blame him (not yet), because he probably didn't deserve being stabbed to death in an abandoned apartment, but if he could have been stabbed anywhere but in the building she was clearing for demolition then she wouldn't be standing in the medical office with him. In Holly's medical office. With Holly. The same Holly she had been ignoring for weeks.

"I've missed you." The look Holly gives her is scathing, but she remains silent and _really_ she knows she deserves it. She also deserves the lack of warning Holly gives her when she cracks through the ribs of John Doe's body.

"Should I even be in here for this?" Again Holly just stares at her over her goggles, holding out the cutters for Gail to take and drop back onto the table.

"Pass me the saw." It's only the fourth sentence the brunette has muttered to her and she's _sure_ that the answer is no, she's not meant to be in here, and that the brunette is just using it to scare her off coming down to the lab ever again.

"I mean it Holly, I've missed you, and I know I messed up-"

"Gail, you ignored my calls for weeks, you wouldn't even talk about what happened, I'm not interested with being in a relationship with a child." She flinches at the sound of the saw slamming on the table next to John Doe, and Holly walks away towards her desk, snapping off her gloves and plastic apron on the way.

"I'm seeing someone else." Her stomach sinks and she's glad that Holly is still facing away from her so she has the chance to blink back the tears. It was something she thought might eventually happen, that Holly would move on without her, but it hurts that it could have happened so quickly when Holly is still the only thing she can think about.

"Oh right."

"Look Gail it's only recent, but she's..."

Gail freezes when she hears it, the muffled 'pop pop pop' that sounds a lot like a gun firing. She can see Holly still moving her hands in her peripheral vision as she continues talking, but she's looking away her ears straining to pick out the popping sound again.

"Are you even listening to me?" She glances back to the agitated brunette.

"No." Holly looks angry, but it's not her face she concentrating on, it's the person walking past Holly's window that catches her attention. The person holding a gun. The person who's just spotted her and has started raising said gun.

"Holly get down!"

She doesn't really think, and maybe she should, because whilst dying a hero does make a good story, it's rarely a good story for the person who dies. It works though, because she's throwing herself into Holly and tackling her to the floor just in time for the glass into Holly's office to explode with gun fire. The glass falls over her as she protects Holly from the falling shards with her own body and she gasps in a desperate breath, because Holly must have elbowed her in the ribs on the way down and it's a struggle to pull in any oxygen.

The gunfire is still sounding from outside, but relief washes over her when she realises it starts to instantly move away from them, but she won't take a chance, not with Holly at risk.

"Come on get up." Gail's standing, surprised at how winded her voice sounds, but the brunette doesn't move, she just stares up at her with frightened eyes. There isn't _time_ for this, the shooters could be back at any second so she takes matters into her own hands, grabbing onto the back of Holly's jacket and pulling her into the medical supply room at the side of her office, slamming the door behind them.

It's a strong door, and it's horrible, but she remembers joking with Holly once that if they were ever laid siege to it would be perfect to hide behind. The lock on the inside flicks across and she immediately turns to kneel in front of the brunette taking her face in her hands to search it for injury.

"Are you ok?" Her eyes continue scanning, looking down at Holly's white coat, her clothes, looking for any sign of damage.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Her brown eyes are still wide with fear, the skin on her face pale, and Gail relaxes, because she's in shock, but she's not hurt. "What the hells going on?" She lets out a sigh and finally drops her hands from her face, because she knows it's a comfort she's not entitled to anymore.

"No idea, I don't think it was anything to do with our John Doe though." The pain in her ribs is throbbing, and she sits down next to the brunette, cautious to leave some space between them. She tries to do it gently, but a groan of pain still spills past her lips.

"Are _you_ ok?" Holly's not looking at her, her eyes still drilling into the locked door where the muffled sounds of gunfire are coming from. That's when it catches her attention, the little hole in the side of her jacket, she follows it through with her finger to the solid material of her flak jacket right on top of where the pain in her ribs radiates from.

"No, I've been shot." She fingers the little hole in the flak jacket and feels the smooth metal of the back of the bullet.

"What?" Holly's eyes are on her then, pulling back the side of her jacket. "Oh God Gail."

The jerking movement causes another groan to pass her lips and she pulls the material back out of Holly's hand. "It's fine."

"Gail it's not fine." Her hands reach for the jacket again, but she pushes herself up onto her feet again to avoid them.

"The bullets in the jacket, the worst I've got is a couple of broken ribs." The pain is still throbbing and she stretches out her side to try and relieve some of the pressure.

Holly's instantly on her feet, pulling on both sides of her jacket this time. "Take it off I need to look at it." And in any other situation she would have rolled with, she would have told Holly she missed how forwards she used to be when asking to take off her clothes, but the silence outside catches her attention.

"The gunfire's stopped."

The jacket falls back into place and Holly's arms limply fall away from her as Gail walks to the door, pushing her ear to it. She knows it's something that Holly isn't going to agree with, but she needs to go outside. Gently she pulls her gun out of it's holster, looking back at Holly as she reaches for the lock. "What? Gail what the hell are you doing?"

She drops her eye contact, "I need you to lock the door behind me, I'll send someone to get you."

"Gail, no, you can't go out there." Holly's back next to her again, her hands covering Gail's on the lock and if this had been just a few minutes earlier she would have revelled at the contact.

"Holly, I have to ok, I don't know if there's any other officers in the building, people might need help."

"Then let me come with you, I can help if they're injured." There's a pleading look in Holly's eyes, and she knows Holly still cares, she knows that even though things have clearly ended between them for good now the feelings she had before were still real.

"No, this is what I do Holly, if it's safe I'll send someone for you. Until it's safe. Stay. Here." She pulls back the lock and Holly's hand finally pulls away from hers. "No matter what you hear, lock the door behind me ok?"

It surprises her to see tears in Holly's eyes, but she nods her response weakly.

The silence outside the door is eerie, and she eyes the room carefully before pushing through, glad when she hears Holly sliding lock back across the door behind her. She winces at the crunch of glass underneath her feet.

There's no one in the corridor outside and she's barely stepped out into it before she hears the heavy running coming down the corridor at the end off the hallway and she quickly throws herself back round the corner of Holly's office, pressing her body desperately against the wall out of sight. There's two of them, both with semi automatic weapons and she steps out behind them, waiting the few seconds it takes for the lead runner to get around the corner before firing on the trailing man hitting him square in the back sending his weapon skidding across the floor out of his grip.

She's off her feet and falling backwards before her mind can even comprehend that the other shooter is back around the corner and she can hear shouting and more gunfire. It's hazy and she thinks maybe she passes out for a while, because the next thing she's aware of is how blurred her vision has become and that someone is gently shaking her.

"Peck!" Oliver's face gradually comes into focus above hers. "Are you ok darling, where were you hit?"

"Chest, again, ow I think I broke some more ribs."

"There's no blood, but you're now evidence." She lets out a breathless laugh and he helps her shuffle onto the stretcher that's been placed next to her.

"Holly." She quickly grabs his arm before they can start wheeling her away. "She's in the closet."

"I assume you mean physically." He smiles down at her and squeezes her hand back before shouting over to one of the officers. "Hey, there's a Holly Stewart in there, mind getting her out."

The stretchers moving down the hall with Oliver following along side her before she can see the door open and if Holly tries to find her afterwards nobody tells her and she refuses to ask. The x-rays confirm five broken ribs, two from the first hit and three from the second, but Holly doesn't come to see her that night or the following day before she's discharged. She's relieved the next morning to hear no one else ended up in hospital and despite all the shooting no one else actually managed to get shot. She's sure Holly hears the news that she's been signed off for two weeks and every time she hears the door bell she quickly shuffles to it hoping she'll be on the other side, but she never is.

She finds out much later, after writing her witness statement, that the shooters were paid by a local drug runner to retrieve some evidence from the lab before they could be tested. The only problem was that they had sent them to the wrong lab and that both the shooters had survived and snitched on their employer immediately.

It still hurts though, every time she thinks back to that day, because she knows she shouldn't have put so much hope into Holly checking on her, that she shouldn't have put so much hope into what happened that day somehow changing anything between them. It hurts worse knowing it was her fault.

* * *

"Gail." It's been weeks since the shooting at the labs, weeks since she last spoke to Holly, so suddenly hearing her name being called by her completely throws her.

"Hi." She can't formulate any more words, because the last time she saw Holly she was telling her she had a new girlfriend, and then they were being shot at, and since then she's been completely absent from her life again.

"Hi, I've got a problem with a case, it's one you worked a few months ago. You filed a report that's full of inconsistencies. Can we talk somewhere privately?" Her heart pangs, because of course she wants to speak to her about a case, and she silently berates herself for thinking it could be anything other than work related. "How about in here?"

She takes the file off Holly and follows her into the room ready to try and pretend the whole situation isn't bringing her close to tears, but instead confusion washes over her, because the case file in her hands isn't hers, the front page clearly stating Detective Marcano and not Gail Peck. The next turn in events confuses her even more, because when Holly turns to face her the look in her eyes is desperate almost _lustful_ and the case file in her hands is suddenly being thrown across the room.

They kiss, for the first time in months, and as a moan slips past her lips and into Holly's mouth she wonders if she should thank the John Doe who ruined her day all those weeks ago.

* * *

 **A/N** : Chapter 2 will probably be out after the next chapter if You Are (Still) Insane. ALSO! I spoke to toast girls sister this week, she knows I'm going to America, she knows I do photography, she wants to see my photos when I get back, I panicked and spent over £350 on a new wide angle lens to impress her, this was a long sentence, brought to you with the use of commas. OPERATION WOO TOAST GIRL WITH PRETTY PHOTOS OF SUNSETS AND THE GRAND CANYON IS A GO!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : I have returned from 'Merica and I'm not saying it was me that tipped the scales, but I'm not sure it's a coincidence that I visited and now gay marriage is a goer ;) CONGRATS AMERICA!

Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

Holly's not entirely sure what just happened, but she knows it started with a John Doe. She also knows that a moment ago she was explaining to Gail that she had a new girlfriend and the next she was flat on her back with Gail's body covering hers as the remaining shards of her window scattered around them.

Reading about shell shock as part of a psyche rotation was one thing, but she never imagined that she would actually experience it, because suddenly Gail's standing above her and the only thing she can think is 'oh my God, oh my God, oh my God'. The blonde doesn't wait for her though and in seconds she's dragging her across the ground by the back of her lab coat and closing them in the supply cupboard.

"Are you ok?" The warmth of Gail's hand cupping face slowly brings her back, and she wonders if Gail is aware that her thumbs are tracing across her cheekbones.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the blonde visible relaxes in front of her, a heavy sigh falling from her lips. "What the hells going on?"

Gail's hands drop from her face and her heart clenches at the absence of their warmth. "No idea, I don't think it was anything to do with our John Doe though." The blonde sounds breathless, but she keeps her eyes trained on the door, another short burst of gunfire sounding from the other side making her flinch.

It's when the blonde finally sit down that she hears a restrained groan. "Are _you_ ok?" She can see her opening her jacket in her peripheral vision.

"No, I've been shot." Everything freezes as Gail's words hit her and it feels like the wind has been knocked straight out of her.

"What?" Her body acts before her mind can catch up with what's happening and she's on autopilot when she pulls open the side of her police jacket, her eyes catching the little white flecks of cotton around the bullet hole. Another groan, louder than the last pulls from Gail's throat and she realises her sharp movement must have jarred her side. "Oh God Gail."

"It's fine."

Before she has the chance to look at the flak vest Gail's pulling the material of the jacket out of her hands. "Gail it's not fine."

She stands up, out the way of her grasping hands and stretches out the side of her body, the blondes face wincing with every movement. "The bullets in the jacket, the worst I've got is a couple of broken ribs." And she doesn't believe her, because she's _wincing_ and oh God Gail's been shot whilst saving her.

"Take it off I need to look at it." She's on her feet in front of the blonde in an instant, trying to open the jacket again, but the blonde pulls away from her just as quickly.

"The gunfire's stopped." There's an eerie silence and she can't help holding her breath as they both strain to hear any sign of movement from outside. Gail slowly moves away from her and she's forced to drop her grip on the jacket to let her turn away and push an ear against the door.

It's the movement of the hand by Gail's side that catches her attention, the hand that's unflicking the strap on the holster of her gun and her stomach drops. "What? Gail what the hell are you doing?"

"I need you to lock the door behind me, I'll send someone to get you." She avoids the question and Holly can feel her heart rate picking up again.

Her body moves before her mind can catch up again, and it surprises her that after being away from the blonde for so long that she can still instil such a reaction. "Gail, no, you can't go out there." She almost lets out a gasp when her hand settles over Gail's, pushing lightly against it to stop her sliding the lock off the door.

"Holly, I have to ok, I don't know if there's any other officers in the building, people might need help."

"Then let me come with you, I can help if their injured." In her mind she's already making an itinerary all the items in the room, all the items she would need to treat a gun shot wound. The hospital isn't far from the lab, so the most important thing is stopping any bleeding and her eyes quickly dart the room looking for any gauze on the shelves.

"No," Holly's eyes snap back to the blonde, her mouth falling open in shock. "This is what I do Holly, if it's safe I'll send someone for you. Until it's safe. Stay. Here." She finally lets go of the blondes hand as it pushes the lock open. "No matter what you hear, lock the door behind me ok?"

Tears spring to her eyes, and she doesn't trust herself to answer verbally so she just nods her head, fighting the urge to pull Gail back into the room when she steps outside the door. She does as Gail tells her and softly pushes the door shut behind her, her forehead resting against the cool material as she blindly slides the lock back.

In that moment everything in her head is Gail and she replays _everything_ , letting her tears fall down her face in the silence of the room. It doesn't last long, and she has to physically remove herself from the door to stop herself from doing something stupid like running into the lab when she hears the sound of gunfire that's far too loud, far too close to where she's hiding. She can hear nothing again, and it feels like hours pass waiting, but eventually she hears the low rumble of people talking nearby.

There's a knock on the door, and she can hear a muffled voice on the other side, slowly and quietly she slides the lock back across the door, picking up the fire extinguisher next to the door before calling out. "It's open."

Her hearts pounding and she thinks that maybe she's about to be sick, because either it's Gail outside the door or she might have just opened it for the gunmen. The door clicks open and she's just about ready to hit the officer who comes through the door with the fire extinguisher when she realises that's exactly what he is, a police officer. He's about to say something, but she's already dropped the red container on the floor and is pushing past him into the lab. The floor's still covered in glass, but she can't see Gail and the panic that was already rising inside her starts to literally seep from her skin.

"Gail?" The officers in the hall way turn around to look at her. "Officer Peck, where is she? Is she ok?"

"She's just on her way to hospital, she took a couple of bullets." She spins around to face the officer behind her, the one who had just let her out the cupboard and she thinks maybe she's going to be sick.

"I need to go, I need to see her."

"Dr Stewart, I'm sorry, we need to take your statement first."

"Holly?" She recognises the voice from the other side of the room and she quickly spins round to face it.

"Traci? I- Gail she's been shot." Traci is already moving towards her, closing the notebook in hand.

"Hey, hey," the other woman places a comforting hand on her arm, moving it back and forth slowly. "She's going to be just fine Holly, it's Gail, she won't budge for something as petty as a gunshot."

Traci flashes her a smile and she tries to get her breathing under control again, because she's right, if she thinks about it logically, like the doctor she is and not the panicked ex girlfriend then she's right.

"Your phone is ringing Holly."

"Oh, it's..." She swallows and tries to control her errant breathing again. "It's my girlfriend." The other woman gives her arm one final squeeze and moves back towards the other side of the room, giving her the privacy to answer.

"Babe I've just seen the news." Grace's soft voice rushes out from the other end of the line and she can hear the panic in it. "Are you ok?"

"Huh? I- I'm fine, Gail she, got me out the way, and I'm fine, but she, she went back out and- Christ" Her lip starts quivering and she quickly blinks back the tears, because she's _not_ going to start crying in front of a room full of police officers.

"Holly I'm on my way."

"What about work?" It's a ridiculous question, she knows just like the time she ran out of the lab to check on Gail, that Grace won't be thinking about work. Her heart stutters then, because Grace _cares_ for her and the whole time she thought she was going to die, the whole time she was locked inside that closet all she could think about was Gail and what could have been between them. Not once did she think about Grace.

"Babe, you're a bit more important to be that work, and if they've got a problem with it, screw them." There's a light click from the other end of the phone and then silence.

Traci stares at her from across the room and she has to bury her face in her hands, because what the hell is she doing? Gail was a her past, she has Grace now, beautiful, thoughtful, pre-school teacher Grace. The woman who had met her friends, who had gone toe to toe with them and refused to budge, who hadn't run away from her when things got difficult. Grace who was safe and wouldn't be putting her life in danger everyday. Grace who wasn't Gail.

* * *

In her defense she had been shot at, and Gail had saved her life, so it wasn't entirely fair that her relationship with Grace had ended because she couldn't stop thinking about her ex. She refuses to dwell on the fact that even before John Doe had come along a messed everything up Gail had never really left her thoughts.

"A present for you." The sound of a woman's voice pulls her from her thoughts and she inspects the see through evidence bag that drops onto her desk.

"A thumb, I'm not sure this is a gift I should be saying thank you for." She spins around on her chair and looks up at the officer behind her, and has to try and keep the surprise off her face when she realises it's Traci.

"We _think_ it's from the killer of the John Doe you and Gail dealt with last month." There's a look in Traci's eye that tells her there's another purpose to her visit, "Back when she took a bullet for you." And there it is she thinks, the real reason that Traci and not one of the countless other officers in the division is stood in her office with their arms folded across their chest and eyebrow raised.

"She told you that?" She feels guilty, for what might be the millionth time.

"I was the investigating detective, she sort of had to." The conversation is going somewhere she doesn't want it to, so she tries to distract herself, standing from her chair to pick up the evidence transfer forms sitting on the metal table in the middle of the room. Her eyes can't help glancing at the spot on the floor where Gail had tackled her and another wave of guilt washes through her.

"Right." It sounds strained even to her own ears.

"You didn't visit her." The feeling of guilt continues to pool in her stomach, because the only reasons she has are selfish ones that Gail didn't deserve.

"No, it wasn't right for me to."

"It wasn't right? When someone saves your life that's a pretty damn right time to visit them." The tone of Traci's voice forces her eyes up from the paper work and the other woman's hard eyes stare into hers.

"We just," She puts the clipboard back on the metal table in front of her. "We were arguing before it happened, about the break up, about my new girlfriend, my new ex-girlfriend actually."

"And?"

"And I couldn't," She tries to think of an excuse, anything other than 'I freaked out, because I thought Gail might die, so I decided to cut myself off because I can't lose her again'. "I couldn't see her after that."

"You know she's out on patrol right now." Traci pauses, her eyes drilling straight into her own. There's a point to the other woman's statement and Holly looks at her questioningly to continue. "She could get shot again, God forbid it, but she could, except this time it might miss her vest and kill her."

"Why are you..." Her heart clenches, because this is _exactly_ why she needs to step away from Gail.

"Because I've just about had it with the constant funk Gail is in because of you and I don't think Gail is the only one running away from her feelings, is she?" Holly almost flinches at the detectives clipped tone, but she can see the annoyance in her eyes starting to soften. "You know, Gail was the last person to see my fiancée alive."

"I'm sorr-"

"There was a," Traci's eyes finally look away from hers, and she thinks she spots tears in them before she turns away. "The was an incident, and Gail was there, when it happened. Jerry died helping her, because that's what he did, he helped people." There's a pause and Holly can see the other woman's shoulders push up as she takes in a deep breath before turning around to face her. "It's the same thing Gail does too, what all the officers in our precinct do, they help people before they would think of helping themselves."

"That doesn't mean I loved him any less, or ever regretted loving him, because the memories of our time spent together are all I have now, and I wouldn't trade them for a life of not having them." She has to drop her eye contact with Traci then, because it's all hitting far too close to home. "All I'm trying to say is, life's a bit too short to be so scared of something that might never happen." Traci's hand squeezes around hers from the other side of the table, and she just nods her understanding before the woman moves away from her.

"That thumbs at the top of the pile by the way, I want to put this case to bed by the end of the week."

* * *

It's morning and Holly's head thumps in time with the clicking of her heels and she starts to regret the sixth glass of wine from the night before. In her defense her conversation with Traci had opened what she thought were old wounds and all she could think about, instead of actually working _or_ sleeping, was that she needed to see Gail, which was why she found herself in the Penny until the early hours of the morning. When she had finally made it into her office the next day hang over firmly in place, she had noticed an old case file on her desk, one that she had forgotten to file the previous and she almost groaned at the idea that struck her, because she wasn't sure if cornering Gail with the same technique she first used was a cliché, but she's doing it anyway.

She spots Gail before the blonde spots her and she almost stutters out her name, because she can't remember a time when she felt so nervous. "Gail."

"Hi." She looks completely perplexed and Holly doesn't blame her in the slightest.

"Hi, I've got a problem with a case," She immediately notices the downcast look in Gail's eyes at the mention of her visit being work related. "It's one you worked a few months ago. You filed a report that's full of inconsistencies. Can we talk somewhere privately?" There's a room next to them, and she hopes the blonde doesn't hear the quiet groan she lets out, because it really is falling onto the ridiculous rather than romantic side of cliché now. "How about in here?"

It might be that she has a thing for interrogation rooms, she's not sure, but her brain barely processes what Gail is saying when she rips the case file out of her hand and pushes forwards to kiss her. Gail's hands immediately tangle in her hair, and it's not even gently, she rains kiss after kiss onto the blonde who replies with equal aggression before pulling back from her, arms holding her back.

"Wait, wait" There's a redness around the blondes lip, and she bites her own at the sight of it, because it was _her_ that caused it. "Holly, what, what are we even doing? You didn't even come to see me Holly, you didn't even once come to see if I was ok."

The excitement of the kiss leaves her then as the situation came crashing down around her, because she hadn't really planned anything other than coming to the precinct and finding a way to talk to the other woman.

"I spoke to Traci..." It's a terrible excuse, and she knows that before she's even finished saying it.

"Traci isn't me Holly." The look in Gail's eyes is heartbreaking and she just wants nothing more than to reach out and pull the blonde into an embrace.

It spills out of her then, and she has to try and keep the volume of her voice down despite her desperation. "I know, ok! I just, I couldn't do it." She pauses and tries to think of a way to explain her feelings to the blonde. "Your job Gail, it's, I was scared I wouldn't be able to cope with it, watching you go out the door everyday knowing that you might not coming back, that that could be the day someone decides to shoot you."

"Holly you knew this before we-"

"I didn't watch you take a bullet for me before Gail!" She's shocked at how loud her voice was an takes another deep breath to try and calm herself as Gail steps back in surprise.

"Oh"

This time she manages to speak slower, quieter and the blonde steps closer to her again. "I just, I realised when you went back out there, after you'd already been shot that _you_ would always come second, that you would always worry about other people first."

"Usually that's a good trait." A light smiles pulls across Gail's face, and she knows the blonde is just trying to ease the tension, but she can't stop herself snapping back anyway.

"Not when it means you might end up on my table!" Tears instantly pool in her eyes and she blinks them back just as quickly, hoping that the blonde misses them.

"But you're here now."

"Yes because I- Traci, she explained some things. She told me about Jerry." She can hear the sudden hitch in Gail's breathing and she watches her whole body tense, pushing her to continue quickly. "She didn't tell me everything, I know he got killed though and reading between the lines you were there."

"Yeah, it was something like that." A silence falls between them again, and she watches Gail push a hand back through the short strands of her hair.

"And she was right, I can't turn my back on this relationship, on _you_ just because I'm scared of losing you again."

Gail steps towards her again their bodies almost touching, and she worries that maybe it wasn't the right thing to say and maybe this time _she's_ left it too late, but a moment later Gail's pressing her lips against hers again in a desperate kiss. She pulls back for the briefest moment, "You won't lose me, I'll stay, this time I'll stay, I promise," then she's angling her head again and pushing in to deepen the kiss.

It's all tongue and teeth then, with Gail's hands tangling into her hair, pulling at it lightly to move her lips away before she's trailing them down her neck, and _God_ if Holly didn't have a thing for interrogation rooms she was was quickly developing one. She tries to get back control, her hand cupping Gail's chin to bring their lips back together again, and she's so lost in the kiss she thinks they're lucky either of them even notice the knock on the door.

The door actually opening behind them is what shocks them into quickly pulling away from each other, Holly's hands flying straight to her hair as she tries to pat it down before the person behind her can see the mess Gail has made of it. She turns around slowly and she can feel the blush burning up her neck when she realises it's Officer Shaw.

"Hey Peck." His eyes dart between the two. "Holly?" She becomes incredibly aware that her glasses are currently askew and quickly corrects them before nodding a greeting at the man.

There's still papers over the desk and she quickly swivels to face Gail again. "Thank you for speaking with me Gail, I'll just." She picks up the scattered pages of the case file and quickly pushes them back into the folder. "Refile these and _call_ you later to confirm the details."

"Great, yeah, thank you for coming in to clear that up Dr Stewart." She hopes Oliver can't see their eyes, because the intensity of Gail's stare feels like it's burning her. They nod at each other again and she awkwardly nods at Oliver before leaving the room, briefly hearing Gail's voice as the door shut behind her declaring that her hair was messy because of the wind (on the least windiest day _ever_ ) that's apparently raging outside.

Traci's waiting for her on the corner of the hallway and she doesn't even want to know how she knew she would be there, but she smiles as she stops in front of her anyway. "Everything sorted?"

"Yes, thank you, if you're about later I should be in the Penny with Gail, you can share our tab." The other woman just beams at her, and she can't help ducking her head as an embarrassed smile spreads across her own face.

"It would be rude to turn down free drinks, I'll be there." Traci's already started walking away from her when she turns back to shout down the corridor. "Hey Holly, don't forget about the John Doe thumb! I need some prints please."

She can't help shaking her head as the other woman walks away again, "As if I could ever forget about John Doe."

* * *

 **A/N** : Annnnnd done. I chose to ignore the whole adoption/moving to San Fransico thing, because shut up it's ridiculous. I said it in the AN on the previous chapter, but Holly turning up out the blue the way she did always bugged me, I mean _something_ must have pushed her into going back to Gail after all that time! Also I have a major head canon that Traci is the biggest Holly/Gail shipper _ever_ and the show just forgot to tell us.

Also... I have a Tumblr account now, you can find me under AmyBot3000, so you can harass me to post faster directly... Exciting!


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